An Analysis of Performance-Based Perception in Competitive Baseball Players

Abstract: The correlation between performance hitting a baseball and perceived ball size has been described in previous work (Witt & Proffitt, 2005). The article in question used recreational softball players to demonstrate that greater performance led to a perceived change in softball size, but discussed a desire to replicate their experiment with competitive professionals. Using athletes from a semi-collegiate baseball team during their summer season, we were able to find a correlation that although weaker, continues to propagate the relationship found in previous studies. The finding of a weaker relationship also sheds new insight into why elite athletes may fare better at this task than their amateur counterparts